Sat 7/11/2020 4:38 PM
Jim & Jeff,
I realized after the last message that there is a follow-up to the story in why today we spell our name “Elcik.”
If we look at the history of usage based on United States Federal Census data, we learn:
- In 1910 Sr. had his surname recorded as “Elsik” while Jr. and the rest of the family were written as “Elcik.”
- In 1920 Jr’s and family had their surname recorded as “Elcih.”
- In 1930 and 1940, John III’s and family had their surname recorded as Elick”. It, of course, predates our birth.
- Today the surname is used as “Elcik.”
It looks like our Dad over several decades, used “Elick” as our surname, but with our generation, he and we have gone back to our roots by using “Elcik.” Recall that I said the “Elick” spelling was used for Dad’s siblings: Madelyn, Gertrude, Mary, Richard, and Elinor. I was also of interest that “Madelyn” and “Elinor” eventually become “Madeline” and “Eleanor,” respectively. When overtime names change, it becomes increasingly difficult to be sure you have been recording them right. ?
One final mystery. Until I got the dates right the John Elcik, who was born in 1886, was incorrectly finding his way onto our tree. First, we know John P. Elcik, Jr. was born in 1896. I doubt as a ten-year-old, he fathered a child. The mystery is solved with the 1910 United States Census. Both the “Elsik” and the “Elcik” spellings are used within the same household.
Finally, one other surname has been a source of frustration. John “Elsik’s” wife Mary Pelcarskey had has also been recorded as “Maria Ilcik.” Ouch!
Inquiring minds wanted to know. So, as Paul Harvey used to say, “That is the rest of the story.”
John
[All this research and I can’t answer for the way we pronounce “Elcik” as “El-check.” I do vaguely recall having uttered it “Elsick” when I was young. I also remember saying, “check, like in Czechoslovakia.” Could kids in school have been bullying us? Maybe. – Dr. John P. Elcik, IV, Editor]
